I.

Learning Objective

Learning competency:
• Explains Filipino artists’ roles and identify their contribution to contemporary arts.
CAR11/12CAP-0c -e-5

After going through this module, you are expected to:

• Identify the roles and contributions of different Filipino artists to Contemporary Arts
• Make an impression of one of the artist work.
• Recognize the contribution of these Filipino artists to arts that we have today.

Lesson
Roles and contributions of Different Filipino artists to
4 Contemporary Arts

II. Lesson Proper

The following Filipino artists are known for their unique roles and contributions to Contemporary
Arts.

1. Ernest Concepcion (1977-present)

Concepcion is a studio artist whose work

experiments with intense emotion,
deconstructing images in his paintings,
sculptures, and installations.

He is a graduate of the University of the

Philippines, with a Bachelor in Fine Arts while
under the mentorship of pioneer conceptual
artist Roberto Chabet. After graduation, he
moved to New York in 2002 and spent a
significant amount of time in Brooklyn, where
he participated in art residences for the Bronx
Museum of Art Artists-in-the-Marketplace
(AIM) Program, the Artists Alliance Inc. Rotating Studio Program, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural
Council (LMCC) Workspace Program.

Concepcion returned to Manila in 2013 with a triumphant solo show at the U.P. Vargas Museum,
after participating in the El Museo del Barrio La Bienal in New York. He remains active on the Asian
art scene and is a recent recipient of the 13th Artists Award by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

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2. Ronald Ventura (1973-present)

Ventura is a contemporary artist from

Manila, with a Bachelor’s degree of
Fine Arts in Painting from the
University of Santo Tomas. He initially
taught in the same school after
graduating but found his true calling as
a visual artist after his first solo
exhibition at the Drawing Room in “Grayground”
Makati in 2000. Ventura’s work is
known to consist of multiple layers, using imagery that focuses on the human form. His paintings are
a dramatic union of comic sketches, reality, and graffiti. He draws inspiration from Asian mythology,
Catholicism, science fiction and comic book characters. He is known to have the highest selling work
in the history of the Southeast Asian art market: his painting Grayground sold for a whopping $1.1
million USD at an auction in Sotheby’s Hong Kong

3. Leeroy New (1986-present)

Initially trained as a sculptor, Leeroy’s work

blends theatre, fashion, film, production
design, and public art. He graduated from the
prestigious Philippine High School for the
Arts, before continuing his Fine Arts degree at
the University of the Philippines. He has
received artist residences in Singapore and
Australia and was awarded the 13 Artists
Award by the Cultural Center of the
Philippines in 2014. His large-scale public art
uses common objects and materials found in
everyday environments.

In the sand dunes of Paoay, Ilocos Norte, Leeroy collaborated with the local government to convert
discarded water tanks and cement fountains into a post-apocalyptic park filled with sculptures. His
most recent grant from the Burning Man Global Arts foundation was used to transform the most
polluted waterway in Manila, the Pasig River, with floating installations – challenging views on the
environment.

4. Oscar Villamiel (1953-present)

Born in Caloocan City, Manila, Villamiel is a

multimedia artist known for his large-scale
installations consisting of objects found in local
communities. His art career may have started later
in life, but his installations have enthralled
audiences for the past decade. He initially worked
as a set designer for television, a leather bag
craftsman and a successful t-shirt company
entrepreneur before holding his first solo
exhibition in 2006.
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He once filled a room with thousands of bullhorns in his show Mga Damong Ligaw (‘Wild Weeds’) in
2014, at the Light and Space Contemporary in Fairview, Manila. The bullhorn installation was made
to look like a terrain of weeds when viewed at a certain angle. Villamiel’s work reflects the current
socio-political situation in the country, highlighting elements of poverty, consumerism, and religion.

His massive installation Payatas, which features thousands of doll heads, was chosen to represent
the Philippines in the Singapore Biennale exhibition in 2013. It took him two-and-a-half years to finish
this work.

5. Dex Fernandez (1984-present)

Another Caloocan native, Dexter practices a

variety of mediums ranging from painting to
street art and animation. He most recently
participated in art residency programs in Lir Art
Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2013), Asian
Cultural Council in New York, Fine Arts Work
Center, Massachusetts (2015), and Ongoing Art
Center, Tokyo (2016).

His work is influenced by pop culture, graffiti, “ I wander, I wonder”

children’s drawings, and tattoos – creating pieces that challenge people’s views on fine art. He is
known locally for his on-going series of Garapata street art (the Tagalog word for ‘tick’), filling public
spaces with the notion of ‘infecting’ the city with his art.

Fernandez has exhibited extensively in top galleries in the Philippines and abroad, including in Paris,
New York, and the Singapore Biennale. He recently participated in the Melbourne Art Fair 2018 with
fellow Filipino, Melbourne-based artist Diokno Pasilan.

6. Neil Pasilan (1971-present)

Brother to artist Diokno Pasilan, Neil is a Bacolod-born

artist from a family of craftsmen and boat builders. He is a
self-taught visual artist who displayed creativity as a child.
Pasilan has moulded clay figures for most of his life and
continues to use this in his work.

Currently based in Manila, he has become known for his

paintings that hold multiple layers, using different
mediums to expose new forms. Pasilan’s work has been
represented by the Drawing Room of Manila, Artinformal
Gallery, and West Gallery. A notable collaboration with
Raffy Napay was featured in Art Fair Philippines in 2017.
“ Isla hubad ”

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7. Kawayan de Guia (1979-present)

This Baguio-born artist is son to

legendary filmmaker Kidlat
Tahimik and German artist Katrin
de Guia, and was mentored by
famous Baguio artists BenCab
and Santiago Bose. Kawayan’s
art contemplates the Philippines’
changing urban culture. He
illogically arranges texts and
icons to compose a painting,
depicting the human form in new
ways. His work draws from
popular culture, the media and
mass consumerism. He also
creates sculptures and massive
art installations – such as
his Bomba series – and blings out
discarded Jukeboxes.

In 2011, he initiated the Ax(iS) Art Project, promoting the local artist community in the chilly hill
station of Baguio and the Cordilleras. Kawayan has held numerous solo exhibitions in the Philippines
and abroad. He was a guest curator for the Singapore Biennale in 2013.
8. Patricia Perez Eustaquio (1977-present)

Eustaquio is an artist who works in various

mediums, experimenting with different
materials through installation, drawing, and
painting. The frames from her painting are
cut, resulting in canvases that evoke images
of wilted flowers and carcasses. Her
sculptures are fashioned from fabric,
covering objects with resin-treated silk or
crochet. The object is then removed, to
allow the fabric to retain its position, folds and drapes. Her work examines the ideas of perception
and memory. Eustaquio’s solo exhibitions have been held in Manila, New York, Taiwan, and
Singapore. In 2016, her site-specific installation was featured in the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

9. Martha Atienza (1981-present)

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Born to a Dutch mother and Filipino father,
“ Our Island”
Atienza continues to live both in the Philippines
and Holland. After receiving her Bachelor in Fine
Arts from the Academy of Visual Arts and Design
in the Netherlands, she accepted residency grants
from England, Australia, New York and Singapore.
Her video art reflects snapshots of reality and the
environment drawn from her Filipino and Dutch
roots.

She is currently interested in using contemporary

art as an aid to bring about social change. In 2017, she won the Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel
International Fair for her video installation Our Islands, 11°16`58.4” 123°45`07.0”E., which shows a
traditional Catholic procession from the Philippines under water.

10. Elmer Borlongan (1967-present)

The Manila-based artist often refers to Filipino
culture in his paintings, drawing from everyday
scenes of local urban life, which sharply depict an
imperfect world. Borlongan’s work is a favorite
among collectors and at auctions. In his first major
work, Rehimen (1988), he uses bold brushwork to
manipulate the Marlboro emblem, which is guarded
by a pack of dogs as an emaciated figure lays in
despair in the foreground. The painting represents
the marginalized Filipino people who are living in
poverty, with no way of moving forward. In February
2018, Borlongan celebrated a retrospective of 25
years in art, “Rehimen’ by Elmer Borlongan”
showcasing more than 150 paintings and 50 drawings featured in the Metropolitan Museum of
Manila.

Activity:
Choose ONE of the artists discussed above with their artwork, and make an impression. Express
yourself base on what you see and what you feel on your selected artwork. Discuss how the artist
expresses their self on their given artwork.
Please be guided with this criteria:
Impression - 30points
Relevance to the task given - 20points
TOTAL - 50Ppoints

Evaluation:
In a separate sheet of paper, answer the following questions. Choose the letter that corresponds to
your answer.

1. Which of the following artists is known for his Garapata street art?
a. Leeroy New b. Neil Pasilan
c. Dex Fernandez c. Ronald Ventura
2. Which of the following artists painted Grayground?
a. Elmer Borlongan b. Ernest Concepcion
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c. Kawayan de Guia d. Ronald Ventura
3. Which artist created a video installation of a traditional Catholic procession under water?
a. Kawayan de Guia b. Martha Atienza
c. Oscar Villamiel d. Neil Pasilan
4. Which artist created art out of discarded jukeboxes?
a. Martha Atienza b. Dex Fernandez
c. Kawayan de Guia d. Patricia Perez Eustaquio
5. Which of the following artists created site specific installations that were featured in Palais de
Tokyo in Paris?
a. Dex Fernandez b. Martha Atienza
c. Neil Pasilan d. Patricia Perez Eustaquio

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